Re: leftist encyclopedia

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Michael Perelman wrote:
> Jim's interpretation of a project would produce a Wiki encyclopedia but
> probably not
> a pen-l encyclopedia.  If done more collaboratively, it would be more
> effective --
> but only if we could avoid squabbles.  Maybe that is too much to ask.

8 years ago or so Michael raised the idea of putting together an economics
resource website from contributions by pen-l subscribers that would provide
FAQ type answers to taxes, housing, jobs, etc.. It was a great idea but it
never went anywhere for the same reason that this won't go anywhere. You
are all too wrapped up in your individual projects, mostly of a print
nature. To build Internet resources on a volunteer basis takes a kind of
collective will that is sadly lacking in academia, even on the left. None
of the people who put together the Marxists Internet Archives have academic
credentials and the chairperson has a job in a power plant just like Homer
Simpson's. There are formidable websites that professors put together but
they are generally an adjunct of their individual careers. For an idea of
what's out there, go to:

http://www.marxmail.org/links/economics.htm


Louis Proyect
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org